Conch Records

Date

April 12 2010

Written By

3

Comments

0 Comments

Bonobo - Black Sands 2LP/CD (Ninja Tune)

Written By 3 - April 12 2010

Get the 2LP here & CD here

Simon Green aka Bonobo returns with his fourth, most eagerly-anticipated and most accomplished album to date, the magnificent 'Black Sands.' Green proves once and for all with 'Black Sands' that he is an artist and producer with his sights set on much higher prizes than to rule any dusty subgenre of dance music. This is a record of epic reach and massive emotional pull, all held together by Green's understanding of composition and arrangement of live instruments (most of them also played by him) as well as his complete mastery of the tricks and techniques of the digital age. 'Black Sands' is the most contemporary record he has ever made.

Opening track 'Kiara' sets out Bonobo's stall quickly. Yes, there is an exquisite string refrain, reminiscent of Chinese art movies, but Green places this within the context of a thumping beat, deep synths and cut up vocals. 'Kong' seems closer to the soul-jazz template which has long influenced the Bonobo sound but each further listen showcases both the intricacy of his productions and the subtlety with which he achieves them. The skipping beat of 'Eyesdown' and the way he weaves Andreya Triana's vocals through layers of sub-bass show Green making his own moves with the influences of two-step. 'El Toro' brings a Brazilian flavour but without losing any of the hard snap of the beats. 'We Could Forever' combines high-life guitar lines with punishing, melancholy bass. First single, 'The Keeper' shows Green and Triana coming through with their most intense, emotional soul jam. 'All In Forms' once again combines a shimmering beauty with some serious beat 'n' bass action. 'Wonder When' showcases Andreya Triana's voice again, this time in the context of a polyrhythmic finger snapper which will lead to euphoric scenes on the dancefloor. 'Animals' sounds like Joy Division jamming with Steve Reich and a bloco band. Title track 'Black Sands' finishes the album with a perfectly judged, melancholy waltz, waves of horns swelling up to the kind of finale that sings in your ears even after it has stopped.

Since Simon Green's last album, 'Days To Come', he has become one of Ninja Tune's biggest artists worldwide, with over fifteen million plays on Last.FM and a series of sell out tours with his live band which have moved from venues such as the Luminaire to the Kentish Town Forum and the Roundhouse. This combination of superb live shows and studio wizardry means that he is now perfectly placed to push on into a yet bigger league. With 'Black Sands', Bonobo has made the progressive record to achieve it.

Tracklisting & Clips:

01 Bonobo Kiara Prelude clip
02 Bonobo Kiara clip
03 Bonobo Kong clip
04 Bonobo feat. Andreya Triana Eyesdown clip
05 Bonobo El Toro clip
06 Bonobo We Could Forever clip
07 Bonobo feat. Andreya Triana The Keeper clip
08 Bonobo All In Forms clip
09 Bonobo feat. Andreya Triana Wonder When clip
10 Bonobo Animals clip
11 Bonobo Black Sands clip
12 n/a n/a clip

Related Releases:

Bonobo - Eyes Down - Remixes 12" (Ninja Tune)

Bonobo Redbull Radio Mix

Videos: <object width="400" height="225"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=10670542&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;show_title=1&amp;show_byline=1&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=&amp;fullscreen=1" /><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=10670542&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;show_title=1&amp;show_byline=1&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=&amp;fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="225"></embed></object><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/10670542">Bonobo - Eyesdown</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/ninjatune">Ninja Tune</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p> <object width="400" height="225"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=5638643&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;show_title=1&amp;show_byline=1&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=&amp;fullscreen=1" /><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=5638643&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;show_title=1&amp;show_byline=1&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=&amp;fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="225"></embed></object><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/5638643">Bonobo - The Keeper featuring Andreya Triana</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/ninjatune">Ninja Tune</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>

Date

October 12 2009

Written By

3

Comments

0 Comments

Soul Jazz Presents: Can You Dig It?

Written By 3 - October 12 2009

Soul Jazz Records presents ‘Can you Dig It?’

The Music and Politics of Black Action Films 1969-75

Available on 2xCD and 2LP Vol. 1 and 2LP Vol. 2
CD One
1. Roy Ayers – Coffy (Coffy)
2. Gene Page – Blacula (Blacula)
3. Johnny Pate - Shaft in Africa (Addis) (Shaft in Africa)
4. Willie Hutch - Brothers Gonna Work It Out (The Mack)
5. Don Costa - Soul of Nigger Charley (Soul of Nigger Charley)
6. Marvin Gaye - T Plays it Cool (Troubleman)
7. Bobby Womack - Across 110th Street (Across 110th Street)
8. J.J. Johnson – Willie’s Chase (Willie Dynamite)
9. James Brown - Down and Out In New York City (Black Caeser)
10. Quincy Jones – They Call Me Mister Tibbs (They Call Me Mister Tibbs)
11. JJ Johnson - Keep on Movin On (Willie Dynamite)
12. Dennis Coffy - Black Belt Jones (Black belt Jones)
13. Curtis Mayfield - Freddie’s Dead (Super Fly)
14. Blackbyrd’s - Wilford’s Gone (Cornbread, Earl and Me)
15. Willie Hutch - Foxy Brown (Foxy Brown)
16. Isaac Hayes - Run Fay Run (Three Tough Guys)
CD2
1. Isaac Hayes – Shaft (Shaft)
2. Joe Simon - Theme from Cleopatra Jones (Cleopatra Jones)
3. Roy Ayers – Aragon (Coffy)
4. Gordon Staples - All Strung Out (Mean Johnny Burrows)
5. Brer Soul & Earth, Wind and Fire - Sweetback’s Theme (Sweet Sweetback)
6. Johnny Pate - Truck Stop (Shaft In Africa)
7. James Brown - Make It Good to Yourself (Black Caeser)
8. Isaac Hayes - Pursuit of the Pimpmobile (Shaft in Africa)
9. Edwin Starr – Easin’ In (Hell Up In Harlem)
10. Don Julian - Lay it On Your Head (Savage)
11. Gene Page - The Bus (Cool Breeze)
12. Grant Green - Travelling to get Doc (The Final Comedown)
13. Impressions - Make A Resolution (Three The Hard Way)
14. Nat Dove and the Devils - Zombie March (Petey Wheatstraw)
15. Booker T and MG’s - Time Is Tight (Uptight!)

‘Can You Dig It?’ charts the rise and fall of ‘Black Action Films’ from 1970-75. As well as featuring a double-CD collection of the stunning music from these films, ‘Can You Dig It?’ comes with a 100-page booklet, mini-film poster cards and stickers.

The Black Action Films of the early 1970s gave Hollywood its first African-American cinema – actors, directors, cameramen, editors and writers. These films discussed aspects of the African-American experience in the form of entertainment. Storylines interwove post-civil rights revolution with action stories, many involving pimps, prostitutes, drug dealers or private detectives.

The films also featured the finest funk and soul black music of the time as stars such as James Brown, Curtis Mayfield, Willie Hutch and Roy Ayers produced some of their finest work, with film budgets allowing for the addition of huge orchestral arrangements by jazz legends such as Quincy Jones, Johnny Pate and JJ Johnson.

In the early 1970s, Black Action Films exploded into the cinema with three extremely successful films – ‘Shaft’, ‘Super Fly’ and ‘Sweet Sweetback’s Badasssss Song’. The most profound statement of these films was their actual existence – black actors and black directors entering the previously closed Hollywood film industry.

Black Action Films were a representation of politically everything that had gone before and stylistically of everything that was current. Civil rights, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Black Power, Black Panthers, Vietnam sit alongside the criminal worlds of policemen, private investigators, bail bondsmen and the criminals, drug dealers, pimps and hustlers that they parole.

Black American culture is reflected in the scorching soundtracks, some seriously funky clothes and the language of the street. Rarely does ten minutes pass when someone will expound ‘Right on!’, ‘Can you dig it?’, ‘Stay loose’ or the eponymous ‘Is it Black enough for you?’.

Date

October 08 2009

Written By

3

Comments

0 Comments

Upcoming: Shafiq Husayn (Sa-Ra) - Shafiq En' A-Free-Ka 2LP (Plug Research)

Written By 3 - October 08 2009

Shafiq Husayn (Sa-Ra) - Shafiq En' A-Free-Ka 2LP/CD (Plug Research)

Shafiq Husayn is a Master Teacher, someone who combines innate talent with the spiritual focus needed to reach their potential. As one third of the groundbreaking production trio Sa-Ra Creative Partners, Shafiq has been using his prowess to assist some of the greatest musicians of our generation, from Herbie Hancock to J Dilla, Dr. Dre to Erykah Badu.  This fall Shafiq takes a step away from collective efforts to direct his own opus—his long-awaited debut album on Plug Research entitled Shafiq En’ A-Free-Ka.

Shafiq En’ A-Free-Ka is 17 tracks of innovative music that defies any singular classification.  “The U.N. Plan” sounds like a call to arms with Shafiq roll calling nations over uncomprimising drums. “Major Heavy” takes the listener to the clouds with a hypnotizing chorus by the perennially underrated Count Bass D and superb lead vocals from LA’s Sonny Coates.  “Lil Girl” finds Shafiq crafting a lo-fi, head-nod inducing beat that is perfectly matched with UK newcomer Fatima’s vocals. Shafiq enlists the help of more than 30 musicians and vocalists on the album, from bass phenomenon Steve “Thundercat” Bruner, the amazing Bilal, Om’Mas Keith of Sa-Ra Creative Partners, the classically trained multi-instrumentalist Miguel Atwood-Ferguson and many others. Shafiq En’ A-Free-Ka is an experience in a way very few modern albums are. The title itself is clever but meaningful. In ancient Kemet, now known as Egypt, Ka signifies the soul or the mind, so this album represents Shafiq Husayn in a state of complete mental and spiritual freedom. Genres are melded, barriers are broken and trails are blazed through Shafiq’s masterful direction of music equipment, live instrumentation and vocalists. Tracklisting: 1. Intro / Electra 2. Nirvana 3. The U.N. Plan 4. Cheeba 5. Lil Girl 6. Lost & Found 7. Dust & Kisses 8. No Moor 9. All Dead 10. Major Heavy 11. Evil Man 12. Changes 13. Love Still Hurts 14. Le'Star 15. Egypt 16. The Odd Is C 17. Rebel Soldier

Date

September 14 2009

Written By

3

Comments

0 Comments

Fat Freddy's Drop - Dr Boondigga & The Big BW Vinyl

Written By 3 - September 14 2009

Fat Freddy's Drop - Dr Boondigga & The Big BW 2LP (The Drop)

Fat Freddy's Drop's second album has finally been released on stunning gate-fold vinyl.  It is available for purchase here at Conch from Tuesday 15th of September.
fat_freddys_drop20071
Tracklisting:
1. Big BW 2. Shiverman 3. Boondigga 4. The Raft 5. Pull The Catch 6. The Camel 7. The Nod 8. Wild Wind 9. Breakthrough
Check the video for Boondigga here:

Recent Articles

Tags